FIFTIETH ANNUAL CONVENTION 101 



It would be a good plan, no doubt, if circumstances warrant, 

 to purchase one or several good purebred cows as a founda- 

 tion and use these and their offspring as the basis for a 

 purebred herd. The grade cows can be gradually gotten 

 rid of as purebreds take their places. This method can be 

 followed at a small outlay of capital and is sound. There 

 is absolutely no question but that in general purebred cat- 

 tle are more profitable than scrubs and grades, if they are 

 properly handled. But too many farmers have bought 

 purebreds without understanding that they must be given 

 just as good if not better feed and care than scrubs if they 

 are to be profitable. Consequently, they are disappointed 

 and have no use for purebred cattle. Purebred cattle rep- 

 resent years of breeding and effort of breeders and they 

 can be relied upon to yield more profitably than ordinary 

 cows if handled in the right manner. Good purebred cows 

 can be bought at reasonable prices, but it is probable that 

 they can be raised as cheaply in Illinois as anywhere. The 

 main point is to get your foundation for starting. The 

 grade cow is valuable from the standpoint of utility and 

 her worth is quite largely based upon the amount of pure- 

 bred blood she has in her breeding. 



It takes several years of hard work and worry to build 

 up a herd of high producing dairy cows. It takes even more 

 effort and thought to maintain high production after it is 

 gotten. Dairy farming is a business that one must stay with 

 over a period of years in order to get the greatest results. 

 One can not leave his cows in the pasture to suckle calves 

 during the summer and expect heavy milk production from 

 them during the winter. 



The dairy business is in favorable circumstances but at 

 the same time there are many difficult problems to be over- 

 come. But chief among these problems is the large number 

 of low producing cows, the result of improper feeding, 

 management and breeding. It makes no difference wheth- 

 er we are concerned with one or all of them, the main thing 

 we need to do is to create a better market for our feed 

 through good cows. This can be done by finding out what 

 our cows are doing and using this information as a basis 

 for making them more efficient. 



